Hey, y'all—Jake here. This is the first of what will hopefully be many Guest Posts from people I admire about topics they care about.
Today's post was written by Kendra Gaunt. I work with Kendra at The Trevor Project where she is the Product Manager for our Data & AI team. She is a 2021 Moxie Award Winner, writer, speaker, and caretaker of two adorable cats, Orion and Sage. We usually spend our weekly 1:1 meetings chatting about philosophy and cats—so yeah, she’s pretty cool. You can find her on Instagram @via.kendra. Without further ado, here's Kendra's post on Giving + Receiving.
I’ve come to realize that withholding pieces of myself until I am satisfied by an external condition is what blocks me from receiving what I want (and more often than not, this is the condition itself - cute, right?).
This dynamic creates a power struggle - an imbalance of giving and receiving - in the name of maintaining a personal drama (ego).
To keep me in alignment, I often remind myself how space works: when I “lose” something, it creates room for something to take its place.
Curious about what other people think about giving and receiving, I sought some inspiration:
bell hooks
The mutual practice of giving and receiving is an everyday ritual when we know true love.
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Maya Angelou
I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver.
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Deepak Chopra
Giving and receiving are different expressions of the same flow of energy in the universe.
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Denver Moore
We must understand that the only thing that we keep forever is the thing that we give away, and the more you give the more you get.
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Lao Tzu
Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.
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Mahatma Gandhi
The best way to find yourself, is to lose yourself in the service of others.
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Buddha
If beings knew, as I know, the results of giving & sharing, they would not eat without having given…
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Kahlil Gibran
You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.
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Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr
Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?’
What resonates from these pieces of wisdom is a common theme: when we’re not afraid of losing our attachment, we can engage in a reciprocal exchange of energy that nourishes ourselves and others.
The next time you feel that you aren’t receiving something you desire, try asking yourself: what am I giving to create capacity for what I want to receive?
As we give without expectation, we design a stronger invitation to receive.
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✌️ Until next week, happy philosophizing.
Upcoming Issues:
Money
A Look Back: 25 in 5
Wisdom
This is a most profoundly engaging issue. I think that being able to give and the act of giving is a privilege. What makes poverty so degrading and dehumanizing is that it places its victim on a position of always saying Thank you without ever being able to say "You're welcome". We should be very humble and almost ashamed when we give, though give we must. Receiving is holy.